Some dreams just tug at you, pull at you- you have to do something about them. Dreams, which had been of occasional importance in the mountains, were of incredible importance here in the swamp. Fish had gotten used to the Motherfather gently tapping her and guiding her- it was like a friend she'd never known. And when she'd been pulled from her slumber with visions of the caves below, she knew what was happening.

It had happened to her once before; a trip home to the mountains, to repair a great wrong. But instead of the snow-brushed sky, this expedition would spiral down, down to the caves below. There was a pounding in her head like drums in the deep. Would others feel a call?

Well, even if they didn't, they'd hear hers. They would go to the caves, not in ones or twos, but as a group. Her faith in the Motherfather's promise- that she would not fall, that they would be free of the Ache- was strong. In her eagle shape, she'd soared over the swamp, riding thermals and spiraling high and low to spread the word. They would go! They would go to the caves. Her blood ran hot and sang with the thrill of the unknown.

Soon, soon they would depart. For now, there was a gathering, a sort of base camp here on the edge of the Swamp. They would travel through the plains to reach the caves at the foothills of the great mountains afar. It would be a long, arduous journey- but one they could face together. From the tribes she called family, she'd recruited help- here, before their grand adventure, they would ensure that everyone was ready to go. There was no knowing what they'd face, no telling what secrets the depths would hold- but she was determined to do her duty by these kin. She'd keep them as safe as she could, and this gathering would be the first part of that. She would wait for as many to come as they wanted, here on the precipice of the calling. They'd venture together into the belly of the beast, the great yawning throat of the Motherfather.

As kin arrived, she bounded up to each one, greeting them in turn. The gathering was boisterous and loud, with good nature and fear mingling. Trepidation hung heavy, but was cut by the joy of adventure and discovery. Fish made herself busy, passing out bundles of dried fish and soothing fears where she could. It had taken her days to get the fire-smoked fish together, but it would be worth it. As she touched noses with each new arrival, she made them a promise. "We'll all go together, and nobody gets left behind."

It was a promise she was absolutely going to keep.

[This ORP is an excursion away from the Swamp to the caves below, with the Ache temporarily suspended. So long as you stick close, the Ache can't get you. You'll be following Real Big Fish in search of an obelisk that she knows is there. Anyone is welcome to jump in and take part! Feel free to @ Scara at any point if you’d like to interact with Fish.]

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Will always had nightmares, it was all that he’d known for as long as he could remember, shadowy and hellish flashbacks to things best left forgotten. When he rested, he felt out of control, slipping rapidly towards an edge he was scared to cross.

Maybe it was why when he waked he sought to exert such control on his life and on the swamp around him. The old habits and old vices weren’t quite scratching the itch the way they used to.

When he had a dream for the first time in as long as he could remember, he was curious. Perhaps something had come to entertain him. He did so love a bit of entertainment.

He filled his belly with food brought to him by Fun, took his leave of his fellows and set out in search of whatever was going on. He travelled alone, because he was greedy, and because everyone else in his tribe had been grating on him as much as the monotony. Even plotting and experimenting wasn’t really fulfilling him.

It was definitely time for a change.

When he arrived, there were already many kin present, making a ridiculous racket. He lingered by the edge, smiling in the way he couldn’t help but do with his skinned jaw. Other kin for the most part gave him a wide berth as he smelled very much like rancid and rotten flesh, covered as he was in open festering wounds but it didn’t phase him one bit.

There were free things to be had and he managed to pilfer himself a bundle of dried fish for his own when its owner was otherwise engaged.

It was going to be an adventure.

--

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Been was nothing so much as a slave to duty. When he heard the call, he came, because he'd been searching for something he wasn't sure he'd ever find. At this point he'd begun listening to nothing but intuition, following any hint that was given to him by the swamp. Other vagrant kin he'd met on his way had informed him that he was unhinged and that there was no guidance to be found in the whims of fate. He'd ignored them, he had nothing else to keep him going but the hope that fate would eventually take some kind of pity on him and lead him to his goal.

He had not expected it to come so soon.

At first the leering beast had struck him as nothing more than a mirage, born of long obsession, but the longer he looked the more he realised that it wasn't a mirage at all.

It was him.

And he didn't even recognise Been at all, even when he looked right at him. It had been so long, and they'd evidently both changed so much.

Perhaps fate did take mercy on the hopeless sometimes.

This could be interesting.

[imgright]https://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/imag ... uncert.png[/imgright] It was time. Oath watched as kin converged on the... she wasn't even sure what to call the edge of a stand of trees like this. A clearing, almost? But edged as it was with openness instead of forest or water, she wasn't quite sure of the term.

What mattered was that others were coming. Fish had called them, from all corners of the swamp, and Oath and her family had worked hard to spread the word along to others, encouraged them to tell those further out what was going to happen. She smiled at Fish when the mare made eye contact with her, nodding confidently at her-- even if there wasn't enough fish here in their stores for everyone, the caves themselves weren't barren, and they were descending with one of the best foragers she knew of.

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Tirade had been much, much younger when he'd followed the ache up, out and spiralling up and down and ever further from the caves of his birth and colthood. He hadn't let herself regret it-- this place was so strange, so full of life, and with so much abundance and joy that he only ever really regretted that his children, and his children's children, would never know the kindness of the broodmothers, or the quiet, gentle surety he'd grown up with.

This could now change. He turned around, looking to see how many of his progeny may have taken his invitation to come down with him. Even if he found himself alone, there were many others here that would make the journey with him. And even if the caves they found themself in were different than the ones he'd grown up with, there was a possibility of being reunited with family-- those with which he shared his oldest, deepest bonds.

Spoiler

@Scaramouche Fandango
OOC: I'd love it if anyone related to Tirade or Oath popped into the RP-- and if anyone else has kin I own relatives of and wants me to also add them, let me know! <3

[imgright]http://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/image ... se_bee.gif[/imgright] The doe longed to travel, to explore. She'd tried to venture out into the desert and found the ache too overwhelming to get far. That restriction had broken her heart, clipped metaphorical wings. There was so very much to see in their world and Serpent of Paradise had seen so very little of it.

Well, that was true until she'd been lucky enough to join a group of eager adventurers up into the mountains. They'd found an obelisk there, they'd worked together to fix it. It had been a grand adventure like none before. When it was over though, there was the dawning realization that that might have been the end of it. One amazing odyssey. She'd found the prospect of that truly depressing.

So, when she felt that nagging pull, saw the eagle over head calling them to action, the doe had been overjoyed. She wanted this. It didn't matter where they were going or what they were doing, this was an opportunity to step away from the swamp. Find something new.

At the camp she was restless, eager to set out, but wise enough to know she needed to stay with the the Totoma that had called them there.

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Here they were, again -- an expedition to an Obelisk, though this time the surroundings were quite different.

It had taken No Escape some time to recover from the journey from the mountains. She had returned to the swamp with her ribs showing, quite thin and exhausted, and haunted by the events that had transpired there. The cry of the shard-eagle had haunted her dreams, and more than once she had startled awake, hearing it once again. But since then her life had expanded in such a way that missing this expedition was simply not in her future. She had to know how the Obelisks were connected; what drove kin to seek them out, from all the way in the mountains to the deep caves she had only heard about in song and legend.

What connected them? What was visible just beyond the ordinary and day to day? She could hardly think of anything else. The answers were right there. She had to know them. It was a hunger not unlike physical hunger, but different somehow. Stronger. A fresh kill would not satisfy it. She didn't think anything tangible could.

She had left her pets behind, to fend for themselves as a pack under the watchful eyes of her wolf and eaglehound. They would be fine until she returned, she hoped; they had all been fine before they had become part of the back. It had taken her a day or two to travel to the edge of the swamp, but she made it just as the sun rose over the jagged peaks of the mountains far beyond. She made her way straight to Real Big Fish and touched noses in a greeting; they had traveled together to the mountains, and they would do so again here.

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He did not recognize the doe with the fish who greeted him, though Fierce leaned in as she touched her nose to his in greeting, meeting her eyes briefly. The smell of earth and bracken met him, rising up from the uneven ground beneath his hooves; he shifted somewhat restlessly, moving from one foot to the other as he glanced around the slowly gathering kin.

Fierce had wanted to bring his familiars with him - they had tried, at the very least, clinging to his legs with tiny claws and fins (all except for Breakwater, who had been out digging a hole and who could have likely cared less if Fierce returned or not), but Fierce did not know what this journey would entail and he did not want to risk their safety. He had left them behind, feeling somewhat alone and vulnerable he had not felt in quite some time; he was not used to being without them, even if his daughter would keep an eye on them in the meantime (even, Fierce thought with mild exasperation, the shuppies).

He breathed out slowly, a low exhale, then in once more, letting himself relax, trying not to overthink.

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She really didn't want to go. Life was good at a lot of things, but not the scary things. And going into a deep into a hole in the earth certinaly qualified as a "scary thing." But here she was, none the less, called by the Motherfather. She lingered at the edges of the group, rather hoping that the pull she felt would be released once she got to the cave. No such luck. She really didn't want to go.
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"Careful you don't fall heavy with foals again." A soft, deep voice teased into her ear. Life whipped around and was face to face with her lifemate. He was smiling impishly at her. She snorted.

"This is this, and that is that! Don't jest so!"

Death's smile soften and he nuzzled her ear soothingly. "Yes, yes. You're right as always my light."

"You too?" she whispered.

The buck made a soft noise of affirment and took steps foward towards the rest of the party. Life reluctantly followed. While the rest of the group seemed excited and the legendary doe Real Big Fish was not only leading the expedition, but also was providing provision and words of comfort. When the doe touched noses with her, she felt a little of that fear warmly washed back, but it was still there, gnawing at her guts. Still, she did have Death at with her. As much reverence as she had for their legendary guide, it was infinatly more comforting to have the buck at her side.

Death happily accepted the provision of food, fish, something he didn't have very often was surely to be welcome in the adventure ahead. He glanced down at Life as she looked around tentively. It'd been awhile since they've crossed paths, but she was just as beautiful as he'd remembered. But he was slightly concerned. They had both heard the call and felt the pull, and so they were here. He hadn't expected that and it troubled him that the two halves of the Motherfather's circle were pulled together for this.

Still, they had been called and forward they would go.

[imgleft]https://i.ibb.co/GdCjnDj/Biteand-Bat.png[/imgleft] Bite was awake and he hated it. It was too early, too bright, and too loud to exist at this hour yet here he was rested in body but troubled in mind. The icy cold of his dream still held a grip on his bones and the white-hot rage that had filled those last few moments dug shard-like claws into his temples. Bite of Passage was not normally a grouchy kin but this morning was not a normal morning.

Something was calling him. He didn't know who it was but he hadn't felt anything close to whatever this was, not since the Harbinger had sung the world apart. Was it the Harbinger again? It didn't feel like it. "Bat." He dragged himself upright, calling for his nocturnal companion that usually rested in the branches over wherever he laid for the day. "Bat!" He snapped a little louder, starting the familiar awake. Bat chittered and pouted as it dropped out of it's tree and barely fluttered down to rest on Bite's back. A snuffling breath to it's head was the only apology it received as it buried it's head in Bite's hair.

There was no use trying to go back to sleep. The call was too strong and he followed, not bothering anyone else in his clan on his way. If they felt it they'd come. If not that was none of his business. The dark aura of the tar pits gave way to sun speckled swamp and further to drier harder forest as he neared the borders of their home where the Ache might first begin to touch those most sensitive to it's pull. The walls of their prison as his grandfather would see it. He wondered again about the dream and whether the vision he'd seen was of the MotherFather, the Harbinger or something else entirely.

There was a crowd. Of course there was a crowd there was always a crowd when something happened in the swamp. It was one aspect he could relate to his grandfather on, if the Ache were lifted, the swamp might not feel so crowded. Before he could finish that thought though an enormous totoma was greeting him. Bite of Passage returned her touch, his mood lifting as he felt the last remnants of his dream melt and transform into fascination and curiosity. She was vaguely familiar looking but he had not actually had the pleasure of examining one of the chosen Legendaries of the swamp up close. Her eyes glowed like his but any similarity was restricted just to the language used to describe the effect. He could feel power radiating from her, the call that had roused him and drawn him away from his home had a similar 'flavor' though he wouldn't have been able to tell you how. It just was.

Bat used it's small claws to take possession of the dried fish bundle, tucking it up under one wing and discretely nibbling on the treat while Bite of Passage stared a little too intently at Real Big Fish. 

[imgleft]https://www.matope-swamp.com/images/bee ... uncert.png[/imgleft] Consume wasn't completely sure why he was here. That was nothing particularly new, though; he did what he did and he went where he went primarily on the whim of the moment. Dreams had nudged him here, and he had come, expecting nothing; instead, he had found a gathering. He exchanged a friendly nosetouch with the totoma doe who greeted him, bemused, amused, smiling. Then he wandered among the crowd. He'd help carry supplies once they got going, of course, but they weren't going just yet.

He spotted a bright-furred doe, and sidled up to Serpent of Paradise, ears up cheerfully. "Hello, gorgeous," he greeted her boldly.

Merry looked up as someone new sauntered over to her and that relaxed smile and easy confidence had her smiling back in return. She side stepped closer, head tilting to look up at him. "Hello yourself. I don't think I've seen you before." She was pretty sure she'd remember if she had, he was memorable.

"I'm Serpent of Paradise, or Merry, if you prefer." Full of merriment, bright and friendly.

Skybird swopped down low, trilled a soft note as she circled around them.

@Prolixity

"You haven't," he replied cheerfully. "Never met before, but I thought I'd like to meet you." He dipped his head in a polite nod. "My name's Consume. I'll remember yours, I'm sure. Going on this mysterious journey?"

He peered at the bird that circled them. "This one yours?"

@Beejoux

Those bight eyes flicked down to his mouth and she let out a little hum of amusement. "Consume. You gonna eat me?"

She looked up at the bird and nodded. "Yes, that's Skybird. She's my companion, protector." The last got a laugh, the bird was diminutive, not threatening in the least.

"And yes, looking forward to it." She sounded giddy at that. "I want to see what there is to see. Something new and different. I got to go to the mountains before, and it was amazing."

"Are you coming?"

@Prolixity

"Only if you ask nicely," he grinned.

"A pretty bird," he nodded, making a mental note that the bird was a pet.

"To the mountains? That sounds exciting. I've never been outside the swamp. I'm thinking I'll come along, see what there is to see." He laughed. "Had a dream that felt like I ought to come here, so I thought I'd come along."

@Beejoux

He'd get an intrigued chirrup for the comment, a sideling glance and a soft brush of the tail against his hip that could have been an accident, but possibly was not.

"Adventures are exciting," she confirmed, grinning excitedly, slyly back at him. "You got a travel buddy?"

Skybird fluttered low, landed on one of Merry's horns.

@Prolixity

His tail wriggled behind him, slithering in the grass. "Don't got a travel buddy yet," he replied. "I got a fish I feed now and then, but I wasn't gonna drag him along when who knows how much water's gonna be around where we're going." He tossed his head. "He'll be all right till I get back."

@Beejoux